it appears, indeed, that in the latter art their taste is more refined than that of other Oriental nations. At the commencement of the year 1824, the son of the Prince MEHEMET JEHANDAR OGLOU, the present head of the Soupaoke family, came to spend some days at Kertsch with a Russian agent employed in Circassia: this young Circassian, named Karpolet, aged about nineteen years, was taken to a house where a person was performing on the piano forte. He was charmed with the melody of the instrument; and when he was asked which of all the pieces that he had heard played he was most pleased with, he gave the preference to that which was decidedly the best.

Nature in Circassia is very bountiful: fruits of all kinds grow there almost spontaneously, and without culture. In the southern part, the vine produces very fine grapes, without any care. They are left to dry upon the tree for the winter; and wine is also made of them, which is kept in earthen vases. The country is well wooded, and the dimension of the trees testifies their age. The fir, the oak, the walnut, the box, the juniper, and cherry trees, are abundant; and they are of the finest quality and size.

The immense forests with which this country is covered might be rendered available to a considerable trade in wood, for building, &c., and be a source of riches to the inhabitants. But, in order that the Circassians may profit by all the gifts which nature has bestowed upon them, they must be taught to develope them by art, and to feel the necessity

for labour.

This change in their habits can only be accomplished by an intercourse with civilized nations, who can teach them all that they require, to enjoy life. Industry alone gives birth to new wants; which, in proportion as they are satisfied, extend their circle from real to imaginary, and pave the way for the arts, which form the basis of civilization. These people have, undeniably, all the requisite disposition for treading in the steps of any enlightened power which would lead them in such a path. The greatest difficulty is, to eradicate those suspicions which prevent them from taking the first step were this obstacle overcome, there are not many others to hinder the communication of that knowledge which regenerates bar

barian man.

ART. X.—Analysis of the Mirát-i-Ahmadí, a Political and Statistical History of the Province of Gujarát, translated from the Persian by JAMES BIRD, Esq. M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S.

THE large province of Gujarát, or Guzarát, including the peninsula of Katiawár, extends from Banswarah to Dwarka, or, from east to west, about two hundred and ninety miles; and from Birgaon, in Jalór, to Damán, or, from north to south, about three hundred miles. It is watered by several considerable rivers; among which the Narbada and the Mahi were known to PTOLEMY. This, which is one of the most productive districts of India, supplies the greater part of the commercial articles exported from the port of Bombay: these are cotton, opium, saltpetre, indigo, tobacco, grain, and gold-cloths.

Gujarát possesses some of the most remarkable antique remains, whether of Hindú or Muhammedan architecture, that can be seen in India; and the strange variety of sects, castes, and customs, there existing, cannot be found in any other district of this country. Its inhabitants, who speak a dialect named after the province, have been successively ruled by their Rájás, a race of independent Muhammedan princes, and the members of the imperial house of Delhí. During the government of the latter, many innovations were made in the mode of administering the affairs of the province. To the revenue and police regulations, then introduced by AKBAR, JEHANGIR, SHAH JEHAN, and A'RANGZIB, we are indebted for most of that knowledge which enabled us to apply, to Gujarát, a revenue system, that, amidst the numerous failures which have elsewhere followed experiments on this subject, still works better than the generality, and maintains this province in a flourishing condition. A detailed account of these renewed measures will afford useful information to all who are interested in the good government of a country, so important to the crown of England, as India has now become.

A history of the ancient condition of Gujarát, and accounts of the singular tribes and customs existing here, were desiderata, which the learned in Europe have long expected to see supplied. Their wishes will soon be gratified, by the publication of Part I. of the work that appears at the head of this article, and of which we intend here to give a short analysis. It has been put to the press by the ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND, and is now in a state of forwardness. The translation which has been completed to the end of the Emperor AKBAR's reign, is preceded by an historical introduction; in which the translator has illustrated the constitution of Hindú society, and the state of India, at the time it was first invaded by the Muhammedans in any great force, or, from the end of the tenth to the beginning of the thirteenth century. Though

the names of individual Rájás and families, reigning prior to this time, are here and there correctly inserted in the lists of Hindú dynasties, yet little satisfactory historical information can be looked for; and such is the inconsistency of accounts, and the contradictory evidence on which they rest, that, though these may allay the cravings of antiquarians, in search of information to supply a void, they are scarcely entitled to the confidence of historians.

The Mirát-i-Ahmadi was compiled between the years A. D. 1748 and 1762, by MUHAMMED ALI KHAN, the revenue-minister of the province; and commences its statistical information with an account of the soil and productions of Gujarát; its Sirkars and ports, under the provincial dynasty of Muhammedan princes; the amount of the revenue collections, and of sums realized from other sources; and the number and distribution of military retainers. It then mentions the foundation of the city of Patan, anciently called Anhilwarah, the origin of the kingdom of Gujarát; the three royal races of Rájpúts, the Chawára, Solankhi, and Baghiláh, who successively ruled it; and the triumph of Islamism, by the conquest of the country, in the reign of the Patan king of Delhí, Sultan ALLA-UD-DÍN. Soon after the accession of the Solankhi tribe, MAHMUD of Ghazní invaded Gujarát, and destroyed Somanáth. The Mirát-i-Ahmadí gives a brief account of these transactions; but details at length, in the Appendix, the kind of temple which the champion of Islám overturned, on this occasion. The object

of adoration destroyed by MAHMUD at Somanáth was not, it appears, an idol, but a linga; and the authority of the Mirát-i-Ahmadí, in this matter, is supported by that of the Habib-as-sír, which informs us that it was a single piece of rough stone.

In its account of the provincial dynasty of Muhammedan kings, the Mirát-i-Ahmadí has borrowed largely from the Mirát Iskandari, a history of Gujarat written many years previous to the other, and about the time when AKBAR subdued the province, and united it to the empire of Delhí.

The several changes in the revenue management of the province, that were introduced from this period; the contests and disturbances from the death of A'RANGZIB, in A.D. 1707, to the defeat of the Mahrattas, by AHMAD SHAH ABDALI, in A.D. 1761, are next detailed: and ample materials supplied for a luminous view of the Mogul system of revenue, and of those Mahratta transactions not generally known. This last part ends with the settlement, at Baroda, of DAMAJÍ GAIKWAR, and the death of BALAJI Bájí Ráo, after the battle of Panipat.

In the Appendix, the author gives a full account of the various sects of Hindús and Muhammedans, the different parganahs, the most

remarkable places of religious resort, and the principal towns of the province. In fine, the Mirát-i-Ahmadí is the most complete Muhammedan history of one of the most interesting and flourishing of our possessions in India, and throws much additional light on the revenue administration of the whole of that country. When completed, the work will form four octavo volumes.

ART. XI.

SRI LAKSHMI NARAYANA NYAYÁLANKÁRA VIRACHITA VYAVAST'HA-RATNAMÁLA. Calcutta, Samvat 1881. 131 pp. 8vo.

(Printed at the Sástraprakása Press.)

THIS work, as far as our knowledge extends, is the first attempt made by a native of India to produce an elementary treatise on an intricate subject of Hindú Law, modelled after the European plan of a Catechism, written in the form of questions and answers, in the vernacular language of Bengal, with quotations in Sanskrit, from books of established authority, adduced in support of the principles advanced. The greater part of the volume is occupied by a succinct view of the law of Inheritance, according to the system of JÍMUTAVÁHANA, the author of the Dáyabhága, compared with that of VIJNANESWARA, the writer of the Mitákshará. Subjoined, is a short treatise on Adoption, likewise in the form of questions and answers. The following translation of a few passages will give a more precise idea of the plan of the work:

"7th Question.-If the father is very old, so as to be unable to attend to business—have the sons a right to divide the property or not?

"Answer.—If the father be unequal to the discharge of business, and aged, the eldest son, or any son that is qualified, may be authorised by him to discharge affairs in his stead: but the learned declare, that the sons have no right of their own to make a partition."

Proofs.-1. "During their father's life-time, the sons have no authority to acquire, alienate, or mortgage property: but if the father be infirm, away from home, or labouring under illness, the eldest son may take care of the affairs.”— 2. "If the father is unable, the eldest son should discharge business in his stead; or, with his (the eldest son's) assent, the next younger brother, if he be conversant with business. But as long as the father does not wish it, partition of the property does not take place. If he is old, or disordered in his mind, or diseased, the eldest son should, like a father, guard the goods of the rest; for the property is the support of the family. They are not independent while their father

* In translating this passage of SANKHA and LIKHITA, which is likewise quoted in the Dáyabhága (p. 41. 8vo. edit.), we have ventured slightly to deviate from the division of the sentences adopted by MR. COLEBROOKE ; see Hindú Law of Inheritance, p. 19.

is living, and while their mother survives."-3. "Brothers are advised to live together while their parents survive. After their death, their religious merit is amplified, if they live separate."-HÁRÍT. SANKHA and LIKHITA.

VYASA.

“26th Question.-May a brother, without the consent of the co-heirs, alienate land, or other property, belonging to them in common?

"Answer. The alienation by gift, sale, &c. of immoveables which are common property, becomes valid only by the concurrence of all the co-heirs. A gift, or other transfer, made by a single parcener, without the concurrence of the co-heirs, is invalid. Thus is it declared by the author of the Mitákshará.”

Proof. The passage of MANU: "With respect to immoveable property, there is no distinction between separated and unseparated brothers; for one has no authority over the whole, to alienate it by donation, mortgage, or sale:” and the following remark in the Mitákshará, “ As the property belongs in common to the unseparated brothers, a single one of them has no authority over it, and the concurrence of all is therefore indispensably requisite." +

"Question.-How stands this rule according to JiMÚTAVAHANA?

"Answer.-Any gift, or other alienation, of common immoveable property, made by one coparcener, without the concurrence of the rest, is void, being unsupported by written law, and at variance with established usage. But if limited to his own share, it is valid. This is the decision of JÍMÚTAVÁHana.”

Proofs.-1. "A single co-heir is not permitted, without the concurrence of the rest, to alienate, by sale or gift, any immoveable property, nor the entire property, that belongs in common to the family."-2. " Whenever many persons, that have separate duties and separate transactions, and differing in their business and character, are sprung from one progenitor, if they do not agree as to their affairs, and dispose of their respective shares by donation or sale, they are at liberty to do so; for they are masters of their own property.”—VYÁSA. NArada.

The treatise on Adoption commences at page 114, with the following queries:

"1st Query.-In failure of a legitimate son (Aurasa), may a man of this present age adopt as his own any one of the descriptions of sons enumerated by MANU, e. g. the Kshetraja, or wife's son,' and the rest?

“Answer. Of the sons enumerated by MANU, namely, the Kshetraja and the rest, none but the Dattaka, or son given,' can be adopted by men of the present or Kali age. This is the declared opinion of persons conversant with theology and other sciences."

Proof." Sons that were formerly made in various ways by holy men cannot now be procured by men destitute of power in the present age. Others, besides

* Because every one of them, by establishing a separate household, will of his own accord perform the same oblations, and other religious ceremonies, incumbent on householders, which previously were performed by the brothers in common.

† Mitákshará, Vyavahára-adhyáya, p. 174. 8vo. edit. See COLEBROOKE'S Hindú Law of Inheritance, p. 275; where the passage here attributed to MANU is ascribed to VRIHASPATI.

MANU, ix. 159.